


Founding Day

by Anonymous



Series: okurimono-dono [9]
Category: Evillious Chronicles
Genre: Gen, POV Original Character, POV Outsider, Post-Story of Evil
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-25 00:07:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30080421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: It's a day's journey from the monastery to the capital and back.
Series: okurimono-dono [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1968400
Kudos: 11
Collections: Union Server of Evillious 24 hour ficjam





	Founding Day

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Jubilant

The old woman was praying on her knees when I left. Her head was bowed reverently towards the small stained glass window of the monastery's chapel, through which sunlight flowed green as the summer leaves. The image of Lord Held cast long shadows upon the stone-tiled floor, which curled around her like interweaving branches embracing a bird's nest. In the distance the sea's gentle roar swelled and ebbed, intermingling with her murmured prayers and the faint chatter of song thrushes. And beneath it all, if I paid close enough attention, was the echoing laughter of children.

The road to Lucifenian was lined with cypress. Neat, tall, and trim, they stood by the side of the road like well-trained soldiers awaiting their officer's command. Behind them the old woods sprawled, gradually thinning out as I drew closer to the capital city. The road was long and smelled of sweat and dust, but at least it was not usually dangerous. The new Republican Guard patrolled the roads around Lucifenian for miles, keen to protect the valuable shipments merchants brought to their city's gates. But as the midsummer sun beat down from above and my weary feet trod the dirt below, the road was strangely empty. Just avenues of cypress stretching into the distance, and the ambient drone of insects filling the air.

By the time I got to the city gates, my surroundings had become far more lively. From inside the walls I could hear merry cheers and drunken laughter, the boasting of small children playing at mock-war. The guards at the gates barely glanced at me as I entered, and I weaved between the buildings until I reached a great avenue in the innermost portion of the city. A great procession was coming down the street in the opposite direction, led by two lines of mounted soldiers bearing black standards emblazoned with the three golden wings that symbolized Lucifenia. At the back, a man in a red robe stood on a cart with a wax mannequin beside him. The mannequin wore a crown of straw on its head and was dressed in a ridiculously elaborate dress made of burlap. Its head was severed from its body, connected only by a thin metal wire. Around its neck where the wound would have been, a red ribbon was neatly tied. Its eyes stared blankly ahead, its lips twisted into what was likely meant to be an evil sneer but looked somewhat more like a cry of pain. In spite of myself, I stopped and turned to look at what was going on.

_Jubilant forever is justice's swift blade!_   
_The lion-knight's great daughter, the swordswoman in red!_   
_I' th' nation's darkest hour, fettered in chains of lead,_   
_Against the wicked tyrant, she stood up unafraid!_

The man's singing was joined by those in the crowd, and the whole street resonated with the sound.

_Triumphant and glorious is liberty's people!_   
_The despot is now toppled, equality enthroned._   
_So sing out, ye countrymen, in sweet honeyed tones!_   
_Hear the bells toll thrice from the cathedral's steeple!_

Some people had begun to throw garbage at the mannequin. The man leading the song winced as a few items flew uncomfortably close to where he was, but the procession continued slowly down the street and after a while he faded from view.

By the time I left the apothecary's, it was already late in the afternoon. I had to hurry if I wanted to be back before dark. If most of the soldiers had been relocated to the city for Lucifenia's Founding Day, it might be a lot more difficult to make it safely back.

But even as I left behind the sounds of revelry and the smells of the city, the sky began to fade into orange. I continued down the great road lined with cypress until the sun glowed red and dipped under the horizon. My fear of bandits turned out to be unjustified. In the end, the road remained just as empty as when I came. And the towering trees on either side of me passed slowly, their shadows cast in long, thin rays like arms reaching back toward Lucifenian. As I walked, the image of the mannequin kept circulating around my head. The look of its blank eyes and waxen lips. And the red ribbon tied so neatly around its neck.

The first thing the old woman said to me when I entered her room was, "Thank you, dear."

I set down a small tray on her bedside table and sat on a stout oak stool, watching her as she took a bowl from the tray and carefully sipped at it. She grimaced a few times, but eventually finished the whole bowl and put it back down. She looked frail sitting there in her small bed, her blonde hair glowing white in the moonlight from the window. She turned and looked up at the night sky, suddenly coughing, before turning back to me and smiling.

"Thank you again... I'm sorry you had to waste a whole day fetching my medicine for me. I guess all I can give you all in my old age is trouble, huh?"

"Not at all," I shook my head. "The city was celebrating Founding Day today. It was a new sight for me, to see their festivities."

She nodded, though her smile faltered a little. The mannequin flashed again into my mind. I hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"...Mother Rin. Do you really think the Republic's founding was a moment of triumph?"

She sighed a little, then coughed again.

"Triumph? Yes, in many ways it was a triumph. But not in the way we remember it nowadays. It took so much bloodshed, so many sins, and so many regrets to get to where Lucifenia is today. Who knows if all of that can ever be forgiven? Perhaps it's better that it is forgotten, instead."

I nodded.

"...Thank you. I'll sleep in the next room over tonight, so please call if you need anything. And... please let us know if you have a wish we could help you realize. Please."

Her eyes grew distant, and her mouth opened slightly as if to speak, before shaking her head.

"No, don't be silly. I don't want to ask anything more of all of you. ...Goodnight, dear."

When I left the room the old woman was lying on her side and looking up at the stars. And the only sound that cut through the darkness was the gentle roaring of the waves.

**Author's Note:**

> By Gift (@okurimono-dono.tumblr.com)


End file.
